HARNESS 113 



The sweat pads in common use, especially in the 

 country, are avoided by all good horsemen. They 

 necessarily collect much dirt and sweat, and therefore 

 produce sore shoulders. 



HAMES 



The main thing to be said about the hames is that 

 they should always be buckled tight at the top of the 

 collar, for if the hames are wide apart at the top, the 

 collar will have so much play that the horse will get a 

 sore neck. The hames should be made of the lightest 

 possible material so as to reduce the weight of the 

 harness. 



SADDLE 



The saddle should be fairly wide, according to the 

 work of the horse and the character of the vehicle, but 

 most work-horse saddles are unnecessarily heavy. Sad- 

 dle-pads are made too short, and hence many sore backs 

 result. For light driving horses they should be at least 

 sixteen inches long. For work-horses they should range 

 from twenty-one to thirty-six inches. The saddle girth 

 for work-horses is apt to be wrongly shaped. It 

 should be very broad at the bottom to prevent chafing 

 the horse, but it should be very narrow at the top for 

 otherwise, especially if the horse has low withers, the 

 saddle girth may chafe his forelegs. 



THE CRUPPER 



The crupper should be large and smooth so as to 

 avoid chafing the horse. On the work-horse a crupper 

 should never be used. 



